Girls und Panzer, Grimdark 40k Edition
by Sketchdumb
Summary: One day of combat in Nishizumi Miho's life in the dark future of the 41st Millennium.
1. Chapter 1

This was an experiment to see what happened if I wrote a GuP fanfic, set in Warhammer, with the tone of Fury. It's meant to be dark and bloody and unhappy like Warhammer. It is what it is. The Emperor protects.

 _It is the dark future of the 41st millennium. Countless worlds are engaged in desperate, sprawling wars for a myriad of reasons, foremost of those to uphold the Imperium of Man. The immeasurably lucky worlds that do not yet know war grow fewer each day._

 _One such unlucky world is Neipon VI, an agriculture-turned-industrial world. By galactic standards, it is barely beyond infancy. First settled for its agricultural qualities, and then modernized some thousands of years ago for light industry, Neipon VI has managed to procure a stretch of peace to break up its many civil wars. The nations are content, the tithes are met, and the growing military-industrial capacity and history of the planet have crossed ways to create the unique sport known as panzerfahren._

 _Alas, the Ruinous Powers are ever seeking the destruction of mankind, and Neipon VI's cults, cancers of the soul hidden for decades, have finally brought their plans to fruition, and now attempt to wrest control of the planet from their rightful Imperial masters._

 _The threat of Chaos is Neipon VI's greatest challenge yet, and the under-armed government is frantically mobilizing all possible forces to combat this traitorous foe, down to the last man, the last woman, the last adolescent even, for this is Neipon IV's fight for its very life, and not one soul can stand idle if the planet is to survive._

Splinters of fuchsia glimmered bright among the neutral grey clouds, even through the smoke columns that drifted up from the urban build-up ahead. There was kilometres upon kilometres of city ahead and around Miho Nishizumi and her tanks, the outer skirts of Hive Nakamura. The Hive proper was a towering mountain of metal in the far distance, a shadow among the clouds. Miho used it as her reference point, the only thing she could focus on in her exhaustion. The ragged forces from Ooarai had advanced through the night, as had the St. Gloriana force. The battle in and around Hive Nakamura was close, too close. Their commanders had requested any and all help available.

The distant thump of artillery and crackle of small-arms fire came closer and closer. Anxiety and anger began to replace Miho's indifference. Adrenaline started to seep into her bloodstream. Memories of the awful struggle across the mainland flashed before her eyes for the millionth time.

"Rise and shine, Ooarai!" Miho called over the radio. "Time is oh-six-fifty hours, we are three klicks outside Hive Nakamura's suburbs! Roll call, weapons check! Up and at 'em!"

With a mumbled greeting, orange-haired Saori Takebe struggled to sit up deeper in the Mod IV Leman Russ. "You sound like Darjeeling there," she said, yawning hugely. "Can't believe I managed to sleep…Miho, did you get any rest?"

"I'm fine," Miho said. She glanced around at the Ooarai forces. Around the tank column consisting of the miraculously whole Ooarai High School tanks marched the battered men of the Ooarai Defence Force. They had started out as an entire regiment; now they were an under-strength battalion, with a company's worth of friendly forces gathered from settlements they had passed through. The real Ooarai armour (how Miho thought of them) had fought and died at the coastal breakout and along the march. Only two squadrons remained, of three Leman Russes each.

Ooarai High School's tanks were now the armoured spearhead of the ODF. Miho was excited and terrified. Excited, because they could return the favors visited upon them earlier, terrified because even though the Ooarai girls had seen combat and fought behind the regular armour, they had fought behind it. The girls, brave as they were, were not professional soldiers. They were not ready to be a spearhead, simple as that.

Or, Miho thought, looking at the other side of things, maybe this is where Panzerfahren will prove its worth.

She looked back at the eccentric collection of tanks trundling along behind her–the low, flat, predatory Stug III tank destroyer, the lumpy double-gunned M3 Grant, the boxy little Type 89, and several others–and hoped desperately that it would be the latter answer.

The column began to report in. First up was Lion team in the massive Tiger P heavy tank, just ahead of Miho's Russ. "Lion team, reporting for duty," a sleepy Nakajima, Ooarai High's mechanic, said.

Next was Hippo team, commanded by Riko Matsumoto "Erwin" of the Stug III. "Hippo team standing by," she said, far more awake and alert than Miho felt.

Next in line, behind the Stug, was Turtle team in the Hetzer casemate tank destroyers, commanded by the Ooarai student president Anzu Kadotani, and commander of the Ooarai armoured company. "Turtle team, standing by!"

Next was Rabbit team, the terribly young underclassladies in the M3 Grant, commanded by Azusa Sawa. "Rabbit team, standing by…uh, yes. Ma'am. Yes ma'am."

Miho smiled. "At east, Rabbit team," she said.

There was nervous giggling on the other end. Then the next tank in line, the boxy Type-3 Chi-Nu housing Anteater team, commanded by nerdy Nekota, reported in. "Uh, Anteater team standing by, ma'am."

Next up was Mallard team, in the odd and oblong Char B-1bis, commanded by Hall Monitor Midoriko Sono. "MallaYAAWWWN…sorry, sorry, so sorry, ma'am. Mallard team is standing by."

Last of all was Duck team, commanded by volleyball enthusiast Noriko Isobe, in the Type 89. "Duck team reporting in, ready to serve the Emperor's good news hot, fast, and without warning!"

Miho radioed to Anzu, "Anglerfish team reporting in. Oorai company is ready for action, ma'am."

"Super!" Anzu said. "I officially cede commanding authority to you for the remainder of the battle, Field Commander Nishizumi."

"Copy, ma'am," Miho said, and then frowned when somebody snickered from lower in the tank.

"What?" she demanded, and looked down to see long-haired gunner Hana Isuzu smiling demurely up at her.

"You blush every time someone addresses you as 'field commander'," she said.

Miho felt herself blush even more, and the fluffy-haired head of loader Yukari Akiyama appeared. "You do!" she exclaimed. "Really, Miho, you're the commander, you don't need to worry."

"I'm not worried!" Miho said, red-faced, and her whole crew started laughing. Well, except for their driver.

"Blushing probably makes you more of a target," deadpan driver Mako Reizei said, staring into her viewport. "She's right, though. There's no need to be self-conscious about it."

Miho sighed, and leaned back. "You're all crazy," she said, pulled an amasec flask out of her jacket, and raised it high. "To Ooarai and its Panzerfahren masters," she said, took a sip from it, and passed it down to Saori.

"To Ooarai," the rest of Anglerfish team said.

The advance continued for a few more minutes. The Ooarai girls were quiet. Other than passing on their ready status to the ODF commander, Brigadier-General Haro, Miho was quiet as well, but not silent. She said the Litany of Command and the Prayer for the Emperor's Benediction over and over, just loud enough for her crew to hear. The rest of Anglerfish team was reverently silent.

Then the radio crackled with the Bridgadier-General's voice. "Command to Gamma company, Ooarai company, today's targets are Hill 731 and the Nakamura Superhighway. Hill 731 is fortified with hostile troops and cannon, and overlooks the Superhighway. These are both primaris-level targets.

"We will first concentrate on taking Hill 731, then the Superhighway. Gamma will assault 731 from the northeast, Ooarai will assault it from the southeast. Back up the troops, take the hits for them, make sure they get up there. We cannot let this hill stay in hostile hands."

"Gamma copies," Captain Denaho, the experienced and weary commander of Gamma company's six Russes, said.

"Ooarai copies," Miho said.

"Good," Brig-Gen Haro replied. "The Emperor protects."

Miho swallowed. The men around the tanks were looking more alert, the Chimera transport vehicles maneuvering into battle formations.

Miho switched the radio over to the private Ooarai channel. "All tanks, sound off," she ordered. The company did so. Miho reached into her coat again, and withdrew a tattered, well-used Imperial hymnal.

"Ladies of Ooarai," Miho said, "we go into battle once more, and once more I would have no one else at my back." She paused to clench her jaw and bury all her emotions deep, deep within her, deep where no one could dig them out.

Reading from the hymnal, she began, "Our Father, who waits upon the Golden Throne, hear our plea…"

And the girls of Ooarai joined in.

"Grant us the strength to defy your foes,

Grant us the will to ignore their blandishment,

Grant us the courage to stand before them,

With your grace, we shall know no fear."

Miho swiped at the unshed tears trembling at the corners of her eyes. "Forever bless your unworthy servants, O Divine Emperor," she said, "guard them from all evil, grant them a worthy death, and take them into your hallowed and eternal presence at the end of all things." She paused once more, and finished the prayer. "Ave Imperator."

"Ave Imperator," said the Ooarai girls said, as well as several nearby Guardsmen.

Miho tucked the hymnal away and gripped her aquila necklace with one hand, closed her eyes, and whispered one final prayer for fury, vengeance, and salvation.

With that, she opened her eyes, breathed deeply, and let her soul make the subtle switch from high school graduate to iron-hearted tank commander.


	2. Chapter 2

Ahead, Gamma company's mud-spattered Russes revved their engines and peeled off right, tearing through a grove of saplings as they did. The Guardsmen on the road hurried off it, and Miho said, "Lion team, full advance, follow that road left."

"Lion copies," Nakajima said. The Tiger P's engines growled, muttered, roared, and the boxy grey tank ponderously sped up. Miho checked the pintle-mounted storm bolter on the right of her hatch, made sure it was in working order and wasn't gunked up with dirt or blood.

Miho looked up at the horizon. Almost directly centered on the horizon were the highest spires of Hive Nakamura. To the left was a bulge of scruffy green and brown–Hill 731. Smoke drifted from parts the hill in broken puffs, evidence of weapons-fire. Miho consulted her map. The Superhighway was supposed to be to their right, about one point three klicks from Hill 731. The hill was definitely a vantage point, then.

Miho felt someone give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "We've got this, Miporin," Saori said. "You spot the targets, we'll do the rest."

Miho squeezed Saori's hand back, memorizing her voice, the texture of her hand, the joy of having a friend, and tucked it away in a safe corner of her psyche, a last treasure to remember when all other treasures ran out.

The barrage from Hill 731 started a few minutes later, and did not let up.

Miho heard a whistle, that terrible whistled, and ducked into the hatch. "Cover!" she shouted out, for the benefit of the Guardsmen.

She heard others call out additional warnings, and with an almighty BOOM, a geyser of smoke and dirt erupted just left of the road ahead. The explosion whited out all opposing sound for a few moments, and when the rest of the background ambiance returned, it was overlaid with the patter of dirt falling to earth. The scruffy green lump that was the hill began spitting autocannon rounds and las-fire, both inaccurate, but they unnerved Miho all the same. She heard screams, awful shrieks of pain, and reminded herself she was damn lucky to be in a tank.

"Anglerfish, get ready!" Miho shouted.

"Gunner, ready!" Yukari said.

"Loader, ready!" Hana said.

"Vox, ready!" Saori said.

"Driver, ready," Mako growled.

"Ooarai, see that hill?" Miho called into the radio.

"Ayup."

"Yeah."

"Yes ma'am!"

"All tanks, two rounds HE into that hill," Miho said. "Keep those bastards down."

On hearing the command for HE, Yukari grabbed a high-explosive round, heaved it up to the gun, and shoved it into the breech. She cranked it shut and shouted, "Ready!"

"Gunner, Miho said, "Target the hill, one klick, up fifteen degrees! Fire!"

"On the way!" Hana called. The stubber fixed in the turret chattered, sending tracers out at the hill so Hana could find her target. A moment later, the Russ's cannon belched fire, and Miho's vision was obscured for a couple moments. They drove out of the smoke cloud, just in time for Miho to see their own dirt geyser tear up a few trees on the hill. More geysers rapidly blossomed as the Ooarai guns boomed. The incoming fire rapidly decreased in volume.

The remaining klick to the hill was covered surprisingly quickly. There were a few reports of fighting in the adjacent buildings, but Ooarai Company's advance was unimpeded. The Guardsmen jogged along in the wake of the tanks, using them as cover, with a section of three Chimeras following.

Miho split Ooarai into its two sections, Alpha and Bravo. Alpha section consisted of her tank, Anglerfish team, with Duck, Mallard, and Rabbit teams–the Mk IV Russ, Type 89, B-1, and M3 Grant. Bravo section consisted of Anteater team, Hippo, Lion, and Turtle–the Chi-Ha, Stug III, Tiger P, and Hetzer. As they approached Hill 731, Miho searched for ways to assault it.

The hill was an oblong shape from north to south, about four hundred square metres of area on top, and not as heavily developed as the suburbs around it. There was a signal tower on its north end, with a few other buildings, but other than that it only had some residential development on its slopes, and what looked like a heavily forested park spread across its crown. The slope distance from the hill's foot to its crown was about one hundred seventy metres. Miho could see one route up the hill, a long road that ran from the southeast corner to a little beyond the hill's midpoint. The map detailed that route, an identical route on its other oblong side, and then the north and south short sides each had a brief switchback road up.

Miho got on the radio. "Ooarai Alpha to Gamma Alpha, I have four routes up the hill, one on each side. Got a plan?"

"Gamma to Ooarai, we will take the north and east routes," Captain Denaho said. "Take your heavier section up the south side, keep the other one in reserve."

"Ooarai copies," Miho said. "Anglerfish to Lion, section switch, you're with me. Rabbit, you're with Bravo section now."

While cannon rounds and small-arms fire plinked at them from the hill, Ooarai Company approached the hill from the south. The buildings and Ooarai's tanks shielded the Guardsmen from the worst of the fire, but men still died as shells landed and as las-fire stitched across the rooftops.

Twenty tense minutes later, Ooarai's tanks ground into a large parking lot on the west side of a low, long factory hall, only three hundred metres from Hill 731. From here, Miho had the best view of the hill she'd ever get from the suburbs. "Bravo section, set up in this parking lot!" she ordered. "Keep your guns on the hill, take targets at will, keep the pressure on them."

"Bravo copies," Anzu said. The Hetzer, Stug III, Chi-Ha, and M3 Grant turned and crunched over the abandoned cars to take up positions in the lot. Alpha section advanced towards the south side of the hill.

They made it to the south side, and Miho got a close-up look at the path. It was a switchback, two turns, leading up a slope of low, thick bushes. Wide-reaching, leafy trees grew on top of the hill, and its crown was ringed by what would be a pleasant stone wall. However, the hostiles defending it had daubed strange, spiky symbols along the wall, symbols that made Miho's gut churn with existential unease.

Miho radioed, "Bravo section, give me an HE volley on the south crown of the hill! Target that wall!"

"Bravo firing!" Anzu called.

"Lion, take point," Miho said.

"Lion copies," Nakajima replied. The Tiger P rolled into the lead position, and headed for the beginning of the path. It easily crushed the cars pulled in front of the gates, and smashed the gates to splinters with its 80-tonne bulk.

Miho heard the whistle of inbound shells. A moment later, Bravo section's volley arrived and blew holes in the wall with a sound like the roll of thunder. Dirt, rock, and smoke erupted from the hill's crown and hid it momentarily. Bits of stone clinked as they fell to earth on pavement and armour.

"Alpha company, eyes on the hill, stay alert!" Miho warned. She moved into second position, with the B-1 and Type 89 following up.

A las-bolt cracked out of the fog of dirt, glanced harmlessly off the Russ. Another followed it, and another, and then an autocannon joined the fray, and in moments dozens of weapons pounded Alpha section with energy bolts, cannon rounds, and grenades.

"Button up!" Miho yelled, ducking down and slamming the hatch closed. The metal rang from small-arms hits. Miho squinted up through the glass viewports, pathetic and tiny compared to the view the hatch offered. "Bravo section, one more volley!" she called.

The second volley came in, and another wave of dirt cascaded down the slope. The small-arms decreased dramatically, and gave them a window of twenty seconds. Lion team's Tiger P was turning around the first switchback by then. They drew heavy fire from the autocannon that had somehow weathered the HE barrage.

"They're targeting our tracks," Nakajima said. Miho saw the tuna-can turret turn, point the big 88 gun, then fire in a bloom of grey and red. The autocannon fire ceased. Nakajima cackled. "Scratch one gun."

Miho saw a couple small objects plop onto the Tiger from above, and heard similar impacts on her Russ. "Grenades incoming," she warned.

The grenades went off, and the Tiger was momentarily lost in a haze of smoke. BANG, BANG. Miho winced as the grenades on the Mk IV Russ went off. Dust drifted down from the tank's ceiling. The patter of small-arms fire picked up again.

"Gunner, right ninety degrees, up fifteen degrees!" Miho ordered. Hana turned the turret as ordered. Miho sighted the enemy, heads bobbing in the dust, just over the torn bushes and rubbles. "HE, right in the middle of those heads!"

Metal clanked on metal as Yukari shoved a high-explosive round in. "Ready!" she called.

"On the way!" Hana howled, firing a burst from the stubber. One hardheaded soul scrambled up, grenade in hand. Hana gave a snarl, moved the stubber's fire up. The heavy tracers first tore the soldier's manhood off, then stitched up his chest and punched new bloody orifices in his face. His mouth stretched wide in a rictus of agony before he fell.

The roar of the battle cannon filled the turret, deafening Miho for a couple seconds. The foolhardy dead soldier was shredded in the blast, as were his friends a few metres behind him. Miho saw a head bounce across the ground. The storm of small-arms fire lessened again.

As Alpha section ground up the last switchback, Anzu radioed in. "Anglerfish, be warned, enemy guns live on hill. Three on east side, west unknown. Gamma company is encountering heavy resistance."

"Anglerfish copies," Miho said. "All allied forces, hold fire on hill, repeat, hold fire on hill, assault in progress."

"Lion, going in," Nakajima said as the Tiger P crested the hill's lip. Immediately, small-arms fire from farther along the hill lashed out at the Tiger, ruby-red las-bolts and sun-yellow solid rounds smacking against the heavy tank's reinforced hull. The Tiger P's grungy treads ground faster, turned it left, and then both treads gained traction, driving it through and over the gate.

"Driver, follow Lion team!" Miho ordered. Mako obeyed, and the Mk IV Russ rolled over the rubble of the gate. "Left stick, ten degrees!" Miho added, and the Russ turned left and moved into line abreast formation with the Tiger P.

Miho took stock of the hilltop. There were formerly lovely trees spaced with wide-reaching branches and bushy bunches of leaves spaced carefully across the hilltop. Bushes and rocks had been place with care as well, to provide the proper flow of energy through the garden. That was changed now. There were clusters of ragged tents, sheets of camo netting, piles of supplies laid haphazardly here and there. Several concentric rings of primitive barriers had been built up, as a simple defence against infantry assault. It was these barriers the defenders now crouched behind, firing every weapon they had at Ooarai's tanks.

The front bolter began to sound, its bwoosh-bwoosh-bwoosh accompanying its stream of rocket-propelled rounds. The barriers blew apart under the mass-reactive shells, wood and flesh alike rent asunder. Despite her previous combat experience, Miho started at the first glimpse of an enemy trooper eviscerated by one such blast. The second death was easier, and the fourth time Mako's unforgiving aim sliced a man's torso clean off at the waist, Miho felt she was stable again. Her stomach ached with dread and repressed nausea, but she was stable.

"Gunner, infantry, eleven o' clock, HE, fire," she rattled off to Hana.

"On it." A moment later, the battle cannon boomed, and the barricade and its defenders were blown away.

Miho radioed to the Guardsmen, "Platoon One, get on the hill, stay behind us."

"On the way, ma'am," the Guardsman in charge called. "Wait up on top, we're still catching up."

"Copy," Miho said. "Lion, Anglerfish, stop here, wait for backup."

Both tanks halted, their bolters spitting at the hostiles. The Tiger's gun boomed. Grenades exploded uselessly against it. Miho squirmed around to look backwards, saw the B-1 and Type 89 pulling onto the hill. "Mallard, get on the far left," she radioed. "Duck, you're on the right of Lion."

"Copy!"

"Copy."

A sound like a massive kitchen pot bouncing down a stone stairway hit Miho's ears, even through the headset. She glanced left to right, saw smoke curling off the front of the Tiger P. A smoke cloud was weeping out of a clutch of bushes twenty-five metres ahead.

"Shit!" Nakajima yelped. "Lion, contact, AT gun, twelve!"

"Gunner, emplacement, one o' clock, HE, ten degrees down, fire!" Miho shouted. The Russ's turret whined as it turned and aimed at the smoke cloud. The cannon boomed, and the ground in front of the bushes went up in a blast of smoke.

"Fuck," Hana muttered. "Give me another, Yukari!"

The Tiger P fired, and this time multiple explosions lit off from the bushes, visible even through the thick smoke. The Russ shuddered violently, and Miho banged her head on the inside of the hatch. "There's another gun out there, need eyes on it!" Miho yelled.

Mallard team in the B-1 pulled up on Miho's left, the small gun in the turret putting out shot after shot. The dust and smoke overwhelmed the battlefield. Miho could barely see fifty metres out now, the branches of trees and mangled defenses appearing like ghosts from the grey-brown fog.

Platoon One's company commander radioed in. "Platoon One to Anglerfish, we're in position."

Miho swallowed, feeling very relied-up, and thus extremely anxious about screwing up. "Alpha section, slow advance," she called. "Fire at will."

The tanks ground into motion, rolling across the ruined garden, across the defenses, the bodies, the tents, everything. Miho faintly hear wood crack and metal groan from the weight of the tank. Lines of bolter fire stitched back and forth across the foggy hilltop, blasting away tree trunks, bushes, ramshackle buildings, and hostile troops.

It was slow and bloody work, and they had to root out another few anti-tank guns, but Alpha section reached the other end of the hill in what felt like a short while. Miho consulted her watch, and was surprised to find thirty minutes had passed. It had felt like ten minutes, and yet like several hours at the same time. Miho shook her head, cleared her mind, and scanned in front and in back of them. The last of the enemy troops were being gunned down in volleys of red las-bolts. She popped the hatch and cautiously poked her head out.

The deafening cacophony of battle had died down to a dull roar, only the rumble of multiple tank engines, the shouts of soldiers, and the nearby firefights going on below the hill. Only all that.

Miho frowned. As grim and unnerving as it had been, it had seemed too easy for them. She radioed Gamma company. "Oorai Alpha to Gamma Alpha, say status."

"Gamma Alpha," Captain Denaho said, "We've been bruised. Four tanks out of action, one irrecoverable, one badly damaged, two immobilized. Your status?"

Miho told him, and also told him how they'd encountered minimal resistance on their push. Denaho was silent for a few moments. Then he said, "Oorai, they were targeting us specifically, they wanted us out of the fight. They want the experienced tankers, my men, they want us dead. Stay alert. I'd bet my next two cigarette packs they're planning something nasty on the Superhighway."

"Roger," Miho said.

Hill 731 came under heavy artillery fire barely thirty seconds after Miho communicated with Captain Denaho. The Ooarai forces, tanks, infantry, everything were ordered to temporarily abandon the hill. Miho took her tanks down the north side, following Denaho towards the Superhighway. Once more, Bravo section tagged behind, looking for opportune sniping positions.

The suburbs became much more urban, less trees, many more alleyways, many more multi-storey buildings. They didn't usually go past three or four storeys, but Miho worried about snipers all the same. Denaho's two remaining tanks, his Leman Russ and a Leman Russ Eradicator, trundled ahead of Miho's Mk IV Russ.

The radio crackled. "Command to Ooarai and Gamma, Command to Ooarai and Gamma, enemy fighting vehicles en route to your target, eastbound, ETA forty minutes. Number unknown, type unknown, suspected anti-tank. Be wary."

"Gamma copies."

"Ooarai copies."

Miho glanced back at her tanks. Her Mk IV Russ was tucked in behind Denaho's Russ, and then the Tiger P was next, followed by the B-1 and Type 89. Several squads of troops followed in their wake, some in trucks, some on foot, all glancing at the buildings. Miho heard shots ring out on a steady basis, not firefight-level fire, but potshots and sniper fire.

Denaho radioed, "Ooarai Alpha, here's the plan. Half a klick ahead there's a main road running parallel to the Superhighway. It is adjacent to the highway, and is connected with one of the on-ramp complexes. Intel and common sense say the hostiles are defending that complex. Ahead and several blocks east is a hole in the Superhighway wall, knocked down by artillery fire. We are going to put one squadron of tanks onto the highway, one on the main road, and hit them from behind and in front."

"Anglerfish copies," Miho said. "Shall I put Ooarai Bravo on the main road approach?"

"Affirmative, make sure they have infantry support. You will follow Gamma Alpha through and back us up, or carry on should we die."

Miho felt a chill brush her heart. Denaho had sounded certain on the latter part of his sentence. "Um…sir…"

"Nishizumi, you're the best panzerfahren commander I've seen. You proved it. You're all this battalion has. If I die, you are in command. Command will help you."

Miho swallowed. "I copy, sir."

"Good. Let's take that highway."


	3. Chapter 3

Thirty-five minutes later, Miho watched Bravo section turn left onto the main road, Erwin and Anzu leading in the Stug III and Hetzer, respectively. They moved into cover behind half-destroyed buildings, facing west, and waited for the order to attack.

Ooarai Alpha section turned right, and followed Gamma Alpha towards the collapsed. They were there in a couple minutes, and Miho was impressed, by the wall and by the hole. The wall was sheer rockcrete and steel, multiple metres thick, five stories tall, meant to stand up to a potential impact from an industrial-level ground transport vehicle. The whole area bore evidence of heavy shelling, roughly several days old. The hole in the wall was surrounded by debris from buildings, and then all kinds of minor loose debris, pieces of crates, pieces of metal, millions of bits of brass casings, all in a strange, block-sized crater.

"They must've put an ammo dump here," Hana said.

Miho observed how the lip of the blast crater led up to the wall, and where the wall had been charred void-black and crushed to rubble. "Sounds right," she said. "Wrong side of the wall, lucky for us."

"Watch the terrain," Denaho warned, as the tanks rumbled across the rough edge of the crater. The bits of casing and minor debris made rustling, scraping noises against the Russ as it moved through the crater. With a bit of difficulty, the tanks rolled up the slight opposite crater slope, and onto the Superhighway.

Miho glanced east and west. To the east, the Superhighway led to the coast; to the west, it led deeper into the continent. It was abandoned at the moment, a few wrecked vehicles dotted here and there, the corpse of a cannibalized superheavy transport lying on its side fifty metres to the left.

"Left stick," Denaho said, and his Russ and Eradicator squad-mate turned west and headed towards the on-ramp complex. It was an obvious building a storey or two higher than the wall, barely 200 metres away. Miho couldn't make out anything specific about it from her present position, only that it had an overpass spanning the highway, and that it had far too many nooks for hostiles for her comfort.

"Watch that wreck ahead," Miho warned. The superheavy transport corpse could easily hide a tank or two. "Gunner, thirty degrees right."

Hana turned the turret to cover the wreck. The tanks filed past it, and Miho had the B-1 and Type 89 go around the wreck's other side, just to be sure.

Hana yelped suddenly, "Miho, movement at two o' clock!"

Miho popped the hatch and peered out. A little over 100 metres away, on the other side of the Superhighway, there was a wide and jumbled patch of shadow and wreckage that could hide a company of infantry or a full squadron of tanks. Miho grabbed her binoculars.

There was a flash from the same area, and the friendly Eradicator ahead of Miho's tank rocked from an impact, smoke and metal flying off its right side. "Anglerfish, movement on my two, one hundred metres!" Miho called. "Gunner, target that smoke cloud, AP!"

Yukari slammed a round into the breech. Hana adjusted the gun, and kicked the firing solenoid. The battle cannon roared, and a silver streak rocketed into the smoke cloud. Miho heard a piercing CLANG, and the shot ricocheted away. "One more!" Hana called, and Yukari started to reload.

Captain Denaho's tank and the Eradicator angled their armor and advanced towards the middle of the Superhighway, guns tracking on the smoke cloud by the opposite wall. Both fired, Denaho's battle cannon a solid report, the Eradicator's short gun a snarling wall of sound. Miho saw a high-explosive shell erupt on the ground just before the shadows.

Then two more muzzle-flashes flared in the shadows, and the Eradicator shook again, once from an AP shell, the other a massive HE explosion. Miho heard a gut-twisting scream over the radio, and the Eradicator stopped moving. "Ooarai Alpha, all guns on those muzzle flashes, now!" Miho ordered.

"Gamma Two is gone," Denaho reported. "Estimate three enemy tanks, one possibly Demolisher, no solid sighting."

Miho's ears rang as her other three tanks fired, all AP, zipping into the growing smoke cloud in the shadows. She saw one shell ricochet, and the other two disappeared. She heard distant thuds, like buildings crumbling, not like enemy tanks penetrated.

Damnation. "Ooarai, any sightings?" Miho asked.

"Lion is negative on sightings," Nakajima said.

"Mallard is negative as well," Midoriko in the B-1 said.

"Duck is negative," Noriko said from the Type 89.

Two more AP shells rocketed out of the smoke, one zipping over Denaho's tank, the other smashing his right front drive wheel off in a spray of metal fragments. Miho ducked inside the hatch, and peered back up a moment later. Denaho's tank fired again, to no visible effect.

"Fucking cowards," Nakajima growled.

"Gamma Alpha, bail out!" Miho said. "Repeat, bail out!"

"One more shot," Denaho said.

Hana jumped in her tiny gunner's seat. "Miho, movement again, two sources, our one, smoke cloud!"

Miho looked through her binoculars. This time she saw them, two boxy shapes advancing out of the smoke. There was another boom as Denaho fired one more shot off, and Miho cheered when she saw it cause something on the left-hand tank to spurt smoke for a moment.

"Gamma One is bailing out," Denaho said. Miho saw his crew begin to evacuate out of the corner of her eye.

Then the ocean-breaker-howl of a Demolisher cannon sounded, and Denaho's tank vanished in an HE blast. Miho was knocked against the hatch rim, gashing her temple. She pulled herself inside, hyperventilating, the image of men ripped limb from limb by the blast seared into her mind. Something pattered down on the Mk IV Russ's hull. Miho looked back out of the hatch, gagged. A man's arm, half roasted, lay right before her.

"Gamma One, come in! Gamma One, come in!" Miho called.

The smoke began to clear, and it showed a scorched tank, unmoving, abandoned, the engine deck smoldering.

"Orders!" Hana demanded.

Miho raised the binocs, made a split-second decision. "Gunner, left tank, target the bow bolter mount, fire!"

"On the way!" Hana said. The battle cannon fired, and the shell arced over, but drifted off target and bounced off the heavy front armour.

"Gamma One, come in," Miho said, one last time. She reached over, and pushed the severed arm off the turret. Her stomach tried to rise up her throat, and she gripped the turret ring till her fingers turned white.

Be like Maho, Miho ordered herself. Be like steel. Be calm and alert and alive.

"Ooarai Alpha," Miho radioed, "diamond formation. Lion, take point, Mallard, take right, Duck, take rear. Focus the…" She looked through her binocs. The enemy tanks had just rolled out of the shadows. They were Leman Russes as well, both standard variants. The one on the left, the damaged one, had a banner tacked across its front armour. "Ooarai Alpha, focus the tank with the banner across the front."

"Lion, roger roger!"

"Mallard copies!"

"Duck copies."

The Ooarai tanks rolled forward, Nakajima's Tiger P taking point, Miho's Russ on the left, the B-1 on the right, and the Type 89 in back. They fired on the move, one thunderclap after another. Three shells went at the banner-Russ, one missed, two missed, the third hit the driver's side of the front. The tank jerked to a halt.

Miho ordered, "Gunner, left tank, bow bolter, AP, fire!"

"On the way!"

Hana aimed, one second, two, three, four, and the gun thundered. There was a flash from the enemy Russ, and a jet of fire shot out the top hatch.

"Hell yeah!" Yukari cheered, thumping Hana on the shoulder.

"One more, one more!" Hana yelled.

Yukari shoved the round in, Hana fired again, and fires began licking out of every hatch on the tank. One tiny figure, on fire, struggled out of the side hatch, made it a few paces, and fell and did not get up.

"Tank destroyed!" Hana shouted.

There was another flash from the shadows, the howl of the enemy Demolisher cannon, and the Tiger P was swallowed in an explosion. A terrible wail came over the radio, like nails on a blackboard coming from a human throat, and did not stop. "Fuck!" Nakajima screamed, "fuck fuck fuck! Lion, driver is down, driver is down! Gunner, two degrees down, below last muzzle flash, fire!"

There was a flash from the obscured Tiger's gun. Miho barely saw it. For a moment, she saw herself as a scale, weighing the lives of her Russ and the two other tanks versus Lion team, plus innumerable other factors present in the battle. Denaho could not help her. Command could not be her backseat commander. It was on her, on her slender shoulders, to do this.

"Move up!" Miho ordered. "Mallard, form line abreast with Anglerfish! Duck, head west two hundred metres, draw them off, circle around if you can!"

She glanced back, saw Noriko already kicking the nimble little Type 89 into motion. The B-1 put on a burst of speed, caught up to and drew level with the Mk IV Russ. They advanced past the Tiger P and continued advancing.

"Focus the visible tank!" Miho shouted over the Tiger driver's wail of agony. "Driver, right stick, ten degrees! Gunner, target…target right track, AP, fire!"

"On the way!" BOOM. The round went left by a meter and skipped off the ground. The tank fired back, and with a terrific GONG noise hit the Mk IV Russ dead center on the upper glacis and deflected away. Miho's back ground into the hatch rim. She yelled at Hana to aim, realized she could barely hear, ducked down and shouted, "Gunner. Repeat last shot. Repeat last shot."

Hana was shaking her head, and perked up. "Roger," she called, her voice tinny. Miho glanced around the tank. Her friends looked a little shaken, but that was the worst, the armour had held.

"Ready," Yukari called. Hana didn't move. "READY!" Yukari repeated.

"Ah! On the way!"

The gun boomed again, and this time the tracks sheared off as the AP round hit home. The enemy Russ's turret twitched towards Miho's tank, then towards the B-1, then back towards Miho's tank. With no time for words, Miho kicked Mako's left shoulder, and Mako steered the Russ left. The enemy Russ fired, and the round bounced off with a ringing peal. Dust puffed into the air, and the turret interior light went out as its wire came loose from the ceiling.

Miho saw a shot arc in from the left, from the Type 89, but it missed the enemy Russ. Mallard's B-1 fired the turret gun, then the bow gun; both bounced. Miho opened her mouth to issue orders, and a shell zipped past her Russ, hit the enemy Russ square on the lower glacis, and went straight in. The enemy tank puffed smoke from the engine deck, and ceased movement. Figures began to scramble out of the tank.

Miho scrambled up, flung the safety off the pintle-mounted bolter, aimed, and held the trigger down. Mass-reactive shells stitched the air and ground around the fleeing tankers, and then began to take their toll. One blew one crewman's arm off, another lost a leg and then his head, and a third Miho saw his back blown open in a distant spray of gore and torn entrails. One barely made it out of sight, and reluctantly Miho laid off the bolter.

"Thank you, whoever got that kill," Miho said.

"That was us," Nakajima said. Miho realized the wailing had become whimpering. "Miho, my driver's been blinded, what do we do?"

Miho's stomach shriveled with horror. She took the emotion and dropped it in her mental incinerator. "Can she still operate the controls?" she asked.

"Yes, she can."

"Patch her up and direct her," Miho said. "We'll get her to base ASAP."

"Roger roger."

"Anyone have eyes on the last tank?" Miho asked. Lion and Mallard called negative. Miho checked her watch. They were supposed to attack the on-ramp complex in only a few minutes. She said, "Duck, any contact with that last tank?"

"Uh, stand by…yes! One block west of your position, he's reversing, oriented your way. Confirmed Demolisher, with sponsons, weapon unknown."

Miho made her decision. "Mallard, fall in. Lion, get in cover on north highway wall, await further orders. Duck, keep that Demolisher spotted."

The Mk IV Russ and B-1 advanced across the highway and into the long, wide ribbon of shadow cast by the north wall of the Superhighway. They rolled past the two knocked-out Russes. They looked about as weathered as any active fighting vehicle Miho had seen, with the addition of poorly-applied urban camouflage, and more barbed, twisted symbols Miho did not recognize and did not want to understand. One stood out at her: in place of the double-headed Imperial eagle that should've been on the side of the tank was a crude brass eight-pointed star, the symbol of the Ruinous Powers.

Miho refocused on the task ahead. Directly before her and Mallard team was another hole in the wall, this one obviously man-made. Miho realized Duck team had somehow got through the wall as well. "Duck team," she said, "how did you get into the city?"

"Maintenance entrance or something, a hundred fifty metres from your position. The Demolisher's backing up against the flat end of a T-junction, he's covering his ass."

"How do we get to him?" Miho asked, steadied herself on the hatch as the Russ bumped over the pile of rubble leading up to the hole.

"Uh…um…go through the hole in the wall, go straight one block, turn right, and he's one block up from that. He's pointed right down the street, though, stop before the turn."

Miho planned furiously. "Can you pop out a block to his right and make him turn his turret? Make him turn it specifically to his right?"

"Yes ma'am. When?"

"I'll call it, stand by," Miho said. She glanced at the buildings as they rolled through the hole. No snipers, enemy troops, or other worrying sights visible. "Yukari, load APCR."

"Th…the…er, yes ma'am!" Yukari reverently loaded the expensive round of ammunition. Miho saw the road reappear from under the rubble piles. There was a turn immediately ahead of her, then a block-length of street, then another intersection.

"Mallard, turn right, advance cautiously," Miho ordered. "Duck will distract the Demolisher, it will turn its turret, exposing its weaker armour. On my mark, shoot and scoot. Don't miss."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Driver," Miho said, "slow and stealthy, move to the left lane, give us room to rotate. Stop six metres before the corner,"

"Roger," Mako said, yanking on the control levers. The Russ's engine grumbled, and it moved into the left lane and continued down the street, and stopped well before the corner.

Miho listened. She could hear another engine to the right, down the block. "Duck, Mallard, say when you're in position," she said. She drummed her fingers on the hatch and glanced around, keeping stock of their situation, praying the lack of any other life on the streets continued for just a little bit longer.

The calls came in, Duck and Mallard were in position. Miho took a deep breath, said, "Duck, go, say when he's looking your way."

"Roger."

More unbearable seconds dragged past. Miho said, "Hana, when you shoot, aim for the side of the turret."

"Copy," Hana said.

The stutter of a bolter around the corner broke the tension. Then there was the slightly muffled boom of a tank gun. Noriko of Duck team reported, "He's just shooting me with the pintle-mounted storm bolter, and sponsons, he's got heavy bolter sponsons. Wait…wait, he's just sitting still. Fire!"

Another boom. Noriko continued, "That's the second shot I've put in, I'm not denting that turret armour. Stand by…dammit, that armour's thick…shit! His turret's turning, it's turning…stand by…Go, go, go, go, for the Emperor go!"

"Mallard, shoot and scoot! Driver, go, gunner, stand by!" Miho yelped. Mako jammed the levers forward, the Russ rolled around the corner, angled forty degrees right. Hana swung the turret ten degrees right, aimed right at the Demolisher's turret, just as it present the flat side to Miho's tank.

One second. Noriko gasped, "Duck in cover!", and the turret began to turn back.

Hana stomped on the firing solenoid, and the battle cannon roared, the APCR round hissing away.

A blast of sparks shot off to the side of the Demolisher's turret. Miho winced as the shriek of rending metal hit her ears. "Penetration!" Han shouted.

"Load HE, hit him again!" Miho ordered.

There was another spray of sparks from the turret as the B-1 put its shot in. Miho looked through her binocs, saw the turret wasn't even moving. "All tanks, hit it, hit it, kill it!" she yelled.

The Mk IV's battle cannon fired again, and a blast of fire and smoke obscured the Demolisher's turret. Miho saw one shot, two shots hit it from the side, the B-1 had turned to use both guns. Another shot came in from the other side, as Duck team re-engaged.

"Gunner, target bow weapon mount, AP, then HE, fire!" Miho ordered.

"On the way!" Hana said.

Yukari shoved the AP in, Hana fired. Sparks flew, a hit. Yukari loaded the HE, Hana fired again, and another blast of fire boiled up from the tank, followed by a secondary jet of fire. Then flames began to lick from the top hatch and from behind the turret.

"Fuck yeah!" Yukari screamed, and slapped Hana on the back, accidentally jamming her forehead into the gunsight.

The Demolisher exploded in a chain of ammo detonations. First the turret blew off and crashed to the pavement, and flames frothed from its turret socket. Then more and more explosions boiled out of it, and sent flaming shrapnel raining down all around the T-junction. Yukari rattled off an awkward, expletive-ridden insult to the Demolisher's crew, one Miho was sure she'd picked up from a Guard repair team.

"T…tank destroyed," Hana said, her voice thick with emotion.

Miho reached down and squeezed her shoulder. "Best shot ever there," she said.

Hana nodded, wiped her eyes. Miho gripped her aquila necklace and whispered, "Thank you."

The explosions from the destroyed Demolisher began to die down. The flames did not, they consumed the supplies strapped to the outside for the tank, and hungrily burnt the inside of the tank and everything in it. No one walked away from the wreck.


	4. Chapter 4

Anzu Kotadani idly listened to Momo swear as she tried and failed to master the yo-yo, and with her eyes surveyed the main street, and the path west. It was a better routine to do than worry about Miho. She'd heard the tank battle, and it had ceased several minutes ago.

Out of the blue, the sharp reports of tank guns echoed nearby, and the radio crackled with Miho's voice. "Ooarai Bravo, get ready to attack."

"Good to hear from you, field commander!" Anzu said. "Turtle team, get ready!"

Momo and Yuzu called affirmatives. Anzu saw HE shells blast sections of the on-ramp building and its overpass off. The crackle of small-arms fire started up, all focused on Miho's force on the Superhighway.

"Bravo section, go, fire at will," Miho ordered.

"Bravo copies!" Anzu said. "Bravo section, steady advance, fire at will!"

The Hetzer, Stug III, Chi-Ha, and M3 Grant rolled forward, the Guardsmen huddling behind the tanks. Small-arms fire began to focus on Bravo section, ricocheting harmlessly off their hulls. The Hetzer's sloped armour was particularly impervious, both to small-arms fire and larger cannons.

And right then, an anti-tank gun crouched in the ruins of a one-storey building opened up from the on-ramp's intersection. The shot slammed into the Hetzer's sloped armour and ricocheted off with a deafening BRRRRANG. Anzu shouted, "Loader, AP!", and ducked down to become the gunner, as the Hetzer only had three crew, including her.

Momo grunted a curse, manhandled an AP round in. "Ready, ma'am," she yelled.

"Driver, halt!" Anzu ordered, and Yuzu hit the brakes. Anzu waited till the Hetzer ceased movement, and aimed the 75mm cannon, put it square on the AT gun's cheek armour. She kicked the solenoid, and the gun boomed, deafening her again. The gun went up in a blast of exploding ammo, and the flash-burnt remains of its crew decorating the ruins.

Anzu pounded the gun breech with her fist. "Target destroyed! Driver, steady advance!"

The on-ramp building was taken, and its particular section of the Superhighway was secured. Ooarai took part in beating back a desperate, poorly-supported enemy counter-attack. When night fell, the reports said Nakamura's native Imperial forces, thanks to Oorai Battalion's diversionary attack, had decisively stopped the enemy's offensive. The traitors had lost their momentum, their tenuous advantage was lost. Both Command and common rumour said the Imperials had the upper hand now.

Ooarai High's tanks were ordered to Hill 731 for a brief rest and refuel period. Miho did not protest. Once the adrenaline high of combat wore off, the Ooarai girls were almost falling asleep at their stations. One thing more still had to be done.

Captain Denaho and his crew were buried on the north ridge of Hill 731, near where they had sacrificed themselves so that the Guardsmen could take the hill, so that Ooarai High could have one more day of learning, one more day of tempering their steel and souls before they faced the full fury of the Archenemy. Anglerfish team helped a squad of exhausted soldiers dig the graves. The Imperial priest did not waste time; he said a quick, brief, and proper funeral, one Denaho would have liked.

Saori woke up, again. She stood up and stretched, listened. The battle was still going on in the hive proper, as evinced by fresh streamers of smoke bleeding from its vast metropolis. She walked from the Mk IV Russ across a dozen metres of torn ground and sleeping soldiers to the new graves.

The bowl of incense on Denaho's grave was almost burnt up, the shell casings marking the captain's resting place barely visible in the half-light from the hive. Miho sat before his grave, head in her hands. Saori stopped, waited. Miho said nothing, and Saori sat down by her.

"Did you sleep?" Saori asked.

Miho shrugged. "I don't know," she whispered. "Maybe. I got up an hour ago and came out here to…to say goodbye to the cap…the captain…"

Saori hugged her. Miho turned her face into Saori's shoulder and cried quietly for a few minutes. After a short while, she fell silent, except for occasional sniffles.

Saori couldn't think of anything to say, save the one question on her mind. "Miporin…what was he to you? The captain? If you don't mind, that is."

Miho sat up slowly and rubbed her nose. She inhaled, scented the incense, seemed to calm down slightly. "He was the Emperor's shield," she whispered, looking at the shell casing grave marker. "He was the hero between me and the outer darkness and all its horrors. I didn't know him well at all, but that was what he was to me, a shield."

She swallowed, and Saori saw her eyes widen with an awful, existential fear. "He was a good man," she whispered, "and he was my shield, and now he's gone."

They were silent for another minute, and Miho said, "Saori…you know that feeling, that hole in your gut, that you feel when you first realize you're going to die someday?"

"Yes," Saori said.

"That's how I felt, losing the captain," Miho said. "That's what it felt like when I realized I was in command."

Miho was silent for a few minutes. She sighed, and turned to look Saori in the eye.

"Saori," she whispered, "you and Anglerfish team, you're my sisters. I love you like sisters, I always will." She took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry, but the…the only way I can cope with this is…being the commander when we're out there, in the field, on duty. I'm the commander then. Hard heart, hard head, no mercy. That's the only way I can be a shield for you, and Ooarai."

Saori thought for a moment, and started, "Miho, you don't have to–"

"Yes," Miho said, her eyes like battleplate for a moment. "Yes, I do. I'm the commander. I'm the shield. That is all."

Saori swallowed, shut her eyes. It didn't matter, the tears came anyway.

Miho hugged her, hugged her so tight it hurt. Saori didn't care.

"Just remember, off duty, deep down, where it counts, I do care," Miho said. "But if I let it out, even a little, it gets to me, it gets to me horribly." She paused. "Do you understand?"

Saori nodded, unable to speak. "Thank you," Miho said. "Thank you. Thank you…"

Anglerfish team was rolling up their makeshift bedding at 0434 hours, when Miho went to personally double-check some things with the Commander. Saori grabbed Mako and Yukari, and pulled them together with Hana beside the tank, and summarized her conversation the previous night with as much deference to Miho's emotional privacy as possible.

Yukari was the most openly distressed. "That's fucked up shit," she murmured.

Mako yawned. "Just put a helmet on and call yourself a Guardsman," she said. She managed to open her eyes and looked at Saori. "But seriously. Thanks for the heads-up."

Hana coughed. "You didn't just call a huddle to inform us of that, did you," she said. "You've got a plan."

Saori nodded. Her will was as fiery as her red hair. She had to do this. For Miho, for Anglerfish team, for a purpose in the inevitable mess about to engulf them. "Miho is going to live beyond this war," she said, not a trace of doubt in her voice. "At least I'm going to make sure of it. If nothing else, I want Miho to survive it, and get her life back."

Anglerfish team was silent. Yukari nibbled her lip, bit her fingernail, and fidgeted. Mako sat there and stared into space. Hana closed her eyes and thought deeply.

"Miporin's going to ruin herself protecting us," Saori said. "You know it, you've seen it. She couldn't stay in Black Forest 'cause she let it get to her, and we won the Panzerfahren Tournament because she stayed calm and didn't let it get to her, she put her feelings in second place."

She paused to swallow, and said, "And now that's she's got to deal with a real war, and from what she said last night, she's not just going to put feelings in second place, she's got to be stone cold like Maho. I don't blame her one bit, but that's not gonna do her any good after the war." She wiped her eyes. "She protects our bodies, we protect her soul, back her up, remind her there's a life after this war."

Mako scowled. "Maho was a hardass. Smart, but a hardass." She thought for a moment, her eyelids rising slightly above half mast. "Count me in," she said. "I like Miho. We already have a Maho."

Yukari rocked from side to side, balling her hands into fists. "Me too!" she said, punching Mako and Hana on the shoulders, and earning a glare from Mako.

Hana opened her eyes. "Well," she said, "you've given me a reason to wake up tomorrow and kill a traitor." She smiled, and Saori was once more convinced Hana would take up modeling after the war. "For Miho."

Saori held out a fist. "For Miho."

Mako, Hana, and Yukari punched her fist, Yukari hardest of all. Saori massaged her knuckles and gave Yukari a look. "When did you get time to have coffee this morning?" she said.

Yukari grinned. "Coffee? When you have tanks? You poor thing, you."

Miho's voice broke into their little huddle. "Anglerfish, you packed yet?"

Saori glanced right, and saw Miho approaching. She had some extra uniforms thrown over one shoulder, and was wearing a new coat. A bolt pistol, definitely new to Miho, was strapped to her hip. And besides her somber, alert, getting-shit-done expression, Miho's biggest change was the hat. She had the full tank commander's cap now, with the Imperial Guard's death's-head emblazoned on it.

Miho nodded to her crew. "Ooarai Company is official now. We're part of the Guard. Our next move is to push the traitors out of the hive, form up into a cohesive force, and push north for the real industrial areas." She checked her watch. "We move out in forty minutes. Get that tank packed, and then you can get coffee and food."

Saori, Yukari, Mako, and Hana chorused affirmatives. Yukari asked, "What are the clothes for?"

Miho said, with a straight face, "The Commander wants us to do the Anglerfish Dance once we cleanse the city."

The crew stared at her. Miho winked, and climbed up on the Russ. "What are you gawking at?" she yelled. "Now you've got thirty-nine minutes to ready up, get busy!"

Saori packed her sleeping bag furiously, mostly to keep her idiot grin of relief faced at the ground.

Miho was still there. As long as Miho was there, Saori had hope, and as long as she had hope, she would fight to keep that hope alive.


	5. Afterword

This piece was an ambitious experiment where I thought I could exponentially increase my enjoyment of GuP, 40k, and Fury by combining them together. I was wrong; I had not thought about what I would actually get if I combined these three stories.

I enjoyed writing it as a 40k story, but not as a GuP story. It was too hardcore and too grimdark for GuP. It is not how I wanted to enjoy GuP.

This is a long and winding way of saying there is no sequel to this story, and never will be, at least not by my hand. If you want to try and continue it, may the Emperor give you strength and courage, and please credit Sketchdumb for the initial story. That is all.


End file.
